FTSE 100 Edges Lower Ahead Of Bailey Speech

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks were moving lower on Wednesday after a steep drop in U.S. consumer confidence stoked worries about a slowdown.

The focus shifted to inflation, with investors awaiting remarks by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Portugal.

In economic releases, U.K. shop prices grew at the fastest pace since 2008, reflecting the cost of living crisis, data published by the British Retail Consortium showed.

The BRC-NielsenIQ shop price index increased 3.1 percent on a yearly basis in June, following May's 2.8 percent rise. This was the biggest annual growth since September 2008.

The benchmark FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 percent to 7,291 after climbing 0.9 percent on Tuesday.

Miners fell after recent gains on hopes of resurgent demand from China. Anglo American and Antofagasta fell around 2 percent each.

Budget footwear retailer Shoe Zone surged 13.5 percent after a positive trading update.

Capita lost 3.3 percent. The outsourcing business said that revenue for the first half of the year was in line with expectations.

Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail advanced 2.7 percent despite reporting a sales drop in the first quarter.